Earier today, we had a chance to talk to Scarlett Johansson about her role as a zookeeper opposite Matt Damon in Cameron Crowe’s We Bought a Zoo. Being that she’s set to return as Natasha Romanoff aka the Black Widow in next year’sThe Avengers, we wondered whether Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige was any closer to greenlighting her own solo Black Widow movie. Feige has said in interviews earlier this year that spinning her and/or her partner Hawkeye, played by Jeremy Renner, into their own movies was a possibility, and let’s not forget that there are two open slots for Marvel Studios’ films in May and June 2014.

“I love playing the Widow. I think she’s got a very interesting past, a lot of storylines to explore, and certainly Kevin (Feige) loves that character,” she told us when asked about a possible spin-off. “I think that Marvel has a very personal relationship with their fans, and I think if the fans want it, and the audience wants it, nothing’s impossible. I would love to explore that option as well. Like I said, I love the character and it would be nice to see something nice and gritty.”

An even bigger question on many minds is whether we might see Natasha in Shane Black’s Iron Man 3, due to start shooting in 2012. Well, if Ms. Johansson knows anything, she’s certainly not telling, because when asked, she said:

“I’ve heard nothing. You know how it goes. Sometimes two days before, it’s like ‘And here’s your next mission.’ I have no idea.”

So if Natasha doesn’t appear in Iron Man 3, maybe that bodes well for the possibility of a movie about her past and/or her past relationship with Hawkeye before joining S.H.I.E.L.D.?

You can watch the rest of our interview with Scarlett over on ComingSoon.net soon, as part of our coverage of Cameron Crowe’s We Bought a Zoo, which opens nationwide on December 23.